Javed is a qualified Teacher currently teaching Arabic at the Glasgow Academy. He is one of the founders of Andalus and is actively involved in the development of Andalus as a Beacon Institute and Community Hub. He delivers lectures, courses and seminars on a variety of subjects dealing with Islam, Muslims and the Muslim world to both Muslims and non-Muslims. He also leads the Friday Prayers at Andalus.

Kemal OkanYouth Development Officer

Kemal has been interested in a range of different sports and outdoor activities over the years that complement his role here at Andalus. These include skateboarding/snowboarding, kayaking, basketball and cycling. One of his more adventurous activities was bungy jumping at the original site in New Zealand. Second to that was canyoning in the south of France, highly recommended! He also has an interest in martial arts. In support of the youth development role Kemal has been undertaking a community leadership project through Backbone and is currently working on a roof garden project at Andalus.

Dr Kishwar SultanaDirector, Andalus

Kishwar is actively involved in Project Management and Fundraising. Her important achievements have been in attaining grants contributing to the Rihla young people project, website development, hall refurbishment and for crèche services. Further, she has worked extensively on establishing the Quran recitation programme with attention to staff management, training and development making it one of the most effective approaches with many success stories. As a result she delivers the Andalus Tajweed Training programme in different parts of the UK. She is also a practicing GP and mother of four children.

Khairul Arifin Mohd MunirDirector, Andalus

Khairul Arifin is a Malaysian who has been in Glasgow since 2007. He has a bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB) from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in 2001 and then pursued a degree in Shariah, LLB (Shariah), in the same University in 2002. Arifin was admitted to the Malaysian Bar as an Advocate and Solicitor of Malaya in 2003. He was awarded the Chevening Scholarship from the British Council to study for an LLM in International Law at the University of Glasgow and obtained a Master Degree with merit from the same University in 2009.

He had played an active role in youth programme and development in Malaysia as the Secretary General for Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM). He hopes that he could share his experience living in multicultural society and his passion for education in order to develop Andalus to be among the most influential contributor that shapes the young Muslim generation in Glasgow and UK.

Jonathon Roderick GilliesCommunity Gardener

Jonathon has been a Community Gardener in Glasgow for over two years now. His experience comes from a family of gardeners and he has worked across a number of projects in the city, delivering his expertise through workshops and gardening sessions with kids and adults alike.

He has now taken on the role to design and build the community garden space here at Andalus and will be providing the community with lots of learning opportunities.